Life Its Ownself
To borrow a favorite quote from my sweet friend, Raven, that is exactly what has gotten in the way of my posting for over a week.
We HAVE been back from L.A. since late Friday, but I can't believe how much there has been to do which has interfered with my posting here. The first thing, before I go into details about our L.A. visit, was the discovery on our return that my hideous Toshiba had decided to die a painful death. My guess is that it had been getting ready to go for quite a while, but that using it constantly had kept the parts warm and operational. Once it was turned off and cooled down, I think there might have been some condensation inside that just fried the works once I rebooted.
So, almost first thing on Saturday we had to drive out to buy a new 'puter. I am not unhappy, since the Toshiba had been a problem from day one, but it was an unexpected expense and complication. And, I had a bit of trouble configuring Vista to work properly with our Livebox. But all now seems well, so fingers are crossed that I'm good to go.
Now for the report:
Going back to L.A. was a totally weird experience in many ways. First, it was odd flying in that direction and realizing that we were not going home. It certainly no longer felt like home.
The flight from Toulouse to Paris to L.A. was very long and made longer by the horrendous connection at CDG. The Air France terminal seems to be under permanent construction status and transferring from Terminal 2E to 2F is practically a nightmare. You have to go back through security, you are walking miles and also taking a weird system of people mover buses that is less than efficient, and generally it is not a pleasant experience. We JUST made our connections on both legs and we realized that there is no way Mom will be able to make it without a wheelchair. Anyone doing this flight: be forewarned.
Air France now flies out of the Virgin terminal at LAX. Perhaps because this is a smaller, less crowded terminal, going through customs and immigration there was much less painful than it has been in the past. Immigration officials were actually nice to us, which was very surprising and unusual, based on past experience. We were out of the airport in record time and on our way to our rental car.
The first night we had American diner food at Dinah's near the airport with good friends Diane and Evan. It was fun, but exhaustion hit by 8:00 and we had to troll back to the hotel and our bed as rapidly as possible. We were, of course, awake at 3:00 and decided to get up, get dressed and hit the road. We drove to Santa Monica Blvd (not too far out of our way) and had a delicious, but expensive breakfast at another old haunt, Delores's Restaurant. Very fun. VERY L.A. with conversations that you do not hear in Chalabre. Then, it was off to Hemet.
Considering the hour, we were much surprised by how much traffic we encountered, but we still made good time and were at Mom's by 5:30. I have to admit that I was a little surprised when I saw her, because I still have a different picture of her in my head than how she is now. I realized right away that we are doing the right thing in bringing her here. She really cannot live on her own and needs to be with family.
That day, Friday, turned out to be quite a day. We had heard from the VISA office at the L.A. consulate right before we left. They had made us an appointment for Friday afternoon, and frankly, we couldn't believe our good fortune. We found out that our Deputé and his wonderful assistant had been responsible for that, and we are eternally grateful.
However, what that meant was that we needed to get Mom, get her paperwork in order and drive BACK to LA by 2pm. It's 200km each way and I was still jetlagged.
We were lucky, because the 21st was Yom Kippur, which DOES have an impact (positive) on LA traffic. It still was heavy, but not as horrible as it would have been otherwise, that is until we had to return home to Hemet, my THIRD trip of the day.
Still, we made it and understood why the consulate wasn't taking appointments. They were a construction site, without even a proper phone system or fax machine. It was very, very kind of them to have seen us, and took a lot of time and effort on our behalf. The opinion was that Mom's file was in great order and she should have her VISA in anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months, but that depends on Paris now.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with Diane and Evan, which was probably a mistake because it meant driving home in the dark and rain. I have no idea how I made it, because by then I was dead on my feet. JM fell into an almost comatose sleep and still doesn't remember how he got to bed.
The rest of the visit with Mom was a hectic time of shopping for her (and me), getting as much organized for her move as possible. Again, I think she's doing amazingly well considering what she's been through, but she is just not capable of living on her own and needs to be with us as soon as possible. At this point, I'm hoping it will be before Thanksgiving.
Our original thought had been to spend Tuesday in LA, then head back to Hemet on Wednesday for a day, then back to the airport on Thursday, but our FOURTH trip in LA traffic convinced us otherwise. I do not understand how people cope with that commute every single day. There were already traffic jams at 4 am! What a horrible nightmare. Both of us were seriously pining for our little corner of paradise, I can tell you.
Tuesday was a real LA day, with us having a business lunch at Universal Studios' commissary. It felt so odd being back in that world after 3 years here in the Possum Kingdom. Again, it was fun for a visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
Dinner was with friends Marv, Noel, Terry, Paula and Evan. That was very, very nice, because you realize what you miss when you move is friends, not places. Speaking of places, we went back to visit our old house and found that the neighborhood looks a bit sad and tired. Our house is being used as a rental and it looks very unloved. JM, in particular, was really upset about that, because he wanted someone to love that house as much as we had.
Our final full day in town was probably our most nostalgic day as well. We spent the day on the Hollywood Riviera, the very first place we lived in LA. Although the shops and restaurants are more upscale than they once were, the overall ambiance hasn't changed all that much and we remembered how happy we had been there. We went to the Wayfarer's Chapel and enjoyed that, but were saddened to see how much new building (ugly building) is going on in the area. Again, no regrets about leaving.
When we finally got home to our wonderful village, we really felt as if we'd been gone for months and not just a week. We know we're going to have to do it all again as soon as the VISA comes through, but it is good to be back, good to have the dogs, good be in our nest and good to realize that we made the 100% best choice for a good life that we could have made.
Ciao for now.
Randy
We HAVE been back from L.A. since late Friday, but I can't believe how much there has been to do which has interfered with my posting here. The first thing, before I go into details about our L.A. visit, was the discovery on our return that my hideous Toshiba had decided to die a painful death. My guess is that it had been getting ready to go for quite a while, but that using it constantly had kept the parts warm and operational. Once it was turned off and cooled down, I think there might have been some condensation inside that just fried the works once I rebooted.
So, almost first thing on Saturday we had to drive out to buy a new 'puter. I am not unhappy, since the Toshiba had been a problem from day one, but it was an unexpected expense and complication. And, I had a bit of trouble configuring Vista to work properly with our Livebox. But all now seems well, so fingers are crossed that I'm good to go.
Now for the report:
Going back to L.A. was a totally weird experience in many ways. First, it was odd flying in that direction and realizing that we were not going home. It certainly no longer felt like home.
The flight from Toulouse to Paris to L.A. was very long and made longer by the horrendous connection at CDG. The Air France terminal seems to be under permanent construction status and transferring from Terminal 2E to 2F is practically a nightmare. You have to go back through security, you are walking miles and also taking a weird system of people mover buses that is less than efficient, and generally it is not a pleasant experience. We JUST made our connections on both legs and we realized that there is no way Mom will be able to make it without a wheelchair. Anyone doing this flight: be forewarned.
Air France now flies out of the Virgin terminal at LAX. Perhaps because this is a smaller, less crowded terminal, going through customs and immigration there was much less painful than it has been in the past. Immigration officials were actually nice to us, which was very surprising and unusual, based on past experience. We were out of the airport in record time and on our way to our rental car.
The first night we had American diner food at Dinah's near the airport with good friends Diane and Evan. It was fun, but exhaustion hit by 8:00 and we had to troll back to the hotel and our bed as rapidly as possible. We were, of course, awake at 3:00 and decided to get up, get dressed and hit the road. We drove to Santa Monica Blvd (not too far out of our way) and had a delicious, but expensive breakfast at another old haunt, Delores's Restaurant. Very fun. VERY L.A. with conversations that you do not hear in Chalabre. Then, it was off to Hemet.
Considering the hour, we were much surprised by how much traffic we encountered, but we still made good time and were at Mom's by 5:30. I have to admit that I was a little surprised when I saw her, because I still have a different picture of her in my head than how she is now. I realized right away that we are doing the right thing in bringing her here. She really cannot live on her own and needs to be with family.
That day, Friday, turned out to be quite a day. We had heard from the VISA office at the L.A. consulate right before we left. They had made us an appointment for Friday afternoon, and frankly, we couldn't believe our good fortune. We found out that our Deputé and his wonderful assistant had been responsible for that, and we are eternally grateful.
However, what that meant was that we needed to get Mom, get her paperwork in order and drive BACK to LA by 2pm. It's 200km each way and I was still jetlagged.
We were lucky, because the 21st was Yom Kippur, which DOES have an impact (positive) on LA traffic. It still was heavy, but not as horrible as it would have been otherwise, that is until we had to return home to Hemet, my THIRD trip of the day.
Still, we made it and understood why the consulate wasn't taking appointments. They were a construction site, without even a proper phone system or fax machine. It was very, very kind of them to have seen us, and took a lot of time and effort on our behalf. The opinion was that Mom's file was in great order and she should have her VISA in anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months, but that depends on Paris now.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with Diane and Evan, which was probably a mistake because it meant driving home in the dark and rain. I have no idea how I made it, because by then I was dead on my feet. JM fell into an almost comatose sleep and still doesn't remember how he got to bed.
The rest of the visit with Mom was a hectic time of shopping for her (and me), getting as much organized for her move as possible. Again, I think she's doing amazingly well considering what she's been through, but she is just not capable of living on her own and needs to be with us as soon as possible. At this point, I'm hoping it will be before Thanksgiving.
Our original thought had been to spend Tuesday in LA, then head back to Hemet on Wednesday for a day, then back to the airport on Thursday, but our FOURTH trip in LA traffic convinced us otherwise. I do not understand how people cope with that commute every single day. There were already traffic jams at 4 am! What a horrible nightmare. Both of us were seriously pining for our little corner of paradise, I can tell you.
Tuesday was a real LA day, with us having a business lunch at Universal Studios' commissary. It felt so odd being back in that world after 3 years here in the Possum Kingdom. Again, it was fun for a visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
Dinner was with friends Marv, Noel, Terry, Paula and Evan. That was very, very nice, because you realize what you miss when you move is friends, not places. Speaking of places, we went back to visit our old house and found that the neighborhood looks a bit sad and tired. Our house is being used as a rental and it looks very unloved. JM, in particular, was really upset about that, because he wanted someone to love that house as much as we had.
Our final full day in town was probably our most nostalgic day as well. We spent the day on the Hollywood Riviera, the very first place we lived in LA. Although the shops and restaurants are more upscale than they once were, the overall ambiance hasn't changed all that much and we remembered how happy we had been there. We went to the Wayfarer's Chapel and enjoyed that, but were saddened to see how much new building (ugly building) is going on in the area. Again, no regrets about leaving.
When we finally got home to our wonderful village, we really felt as if we'd been gone for months and not just a week. We know we're going to have to do it all again as soon as the VISA comes through, but it is good to be back, good to have the dogs, good be in our nest and good to realize that we made the 100% best choice for a good life that we could have made.
Ciao for now.
Randy
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